If you read the description I wrote for the egg tutorial, you know that Easter falls on the fourth of April this year which is pretty early. In celebration of what Easter really stands for, I am about to submit a lesson that is in all sense, religious, and even holy. It was painted by the very gifted “Leonardo da Vinci”, and it is probably one of the more famous paintings he ever did in his entire lifetime. It is considered to be one of the worlds best loved religious paintings ever created. I will teach you "how to draw The Last Supper", step by step. A feat such as this should not be attempted by anyone who is not willing to take their time, or who has little patience. I myself worked on this sketch for two days, which includes the coloring, and process of laying out the tutorial steps. The painting itself is from the fifteenth century, and da Vinci painted the mural for Duke Ludovico Sfoza and Beatrice d'este. The Last Supper is a depiction of what took place before the death of Christ or Jesus. The conversation that is taking place around the table is the aftermath of when Jesus announces that one of his twelve disciples will betray him. The total canvas size is a lot bigger then some realize. It's fifteen feet by twenty nine feet, which is just big enough to cover the dining room wall in a famous church called “Santa Maria delle Grazie” located in Milan, Italy. Not only is the building a famous church, it's also a convent as well. Leonardo began painting Last Supper in 1495, and because he has been known to be a procrastinator when it comes to finishing his work, the painting wasn't finished until 1498. The painting is remarkable because no matter how much chaos is going on around the table, for some reason the presence of Jesus is still center stage. Almost like he is a glowing light surrounded by confusion. It is believed that the first painting of Last Supper was done by a man named “Domenico Ghirlandaio” in 1480. But out of all the depictions of the famous religious drawing, none of them can match up to the one done by da Vinci. In his painting, conversations and confusion are circling all the men as they wonder who it is that will betray the messiah. From left to right I will name the men that are in the painting: Bartholomew, James, and Andrew which is the three men sitting in a group looking surprised. Judas, Peter, and John are the other group of three. In the painting there are metafores to symbolize each man. Judas is wearing a blue cloak with the green sash hanging over his shoulder, and he is holding a bag. This can represent the silver he was paid to betray Jesus, or it can symbolize how he is the treasurer out of the twelve disciples. Peter looks angry and is the one holding a knife or dagger in his hand behind his back. This can represent how infuriated he is to become when Jesus gets arrested. And lastly there is young John who just appears to be faint. Jesus is in the middle looking calm and confident, and then to the right of Jesus is Thomas, James the Greater, and Philip. As you can see Thomas is has the expression of sorrow on his face, James appears to be flabbergasted, and Philip is not taking the news easily. The last section of three is Matthew, Jude, and Simon. Matthew looks confused and has a worried look on his face, and is obviously upset. Jude in the middle is shocked, and Simon is making an expression as if to say “no, this can not be”. Leonardo painted this master piece not on a canvas, but on a wall. He choose to paint on a dry wall so he can go back and forth to modify the painting when he needed to. The amount of detail and definition that went into this painting is remarkable. Which is why learning “how to draw The Last Supper”, may take a while to complete. But when done, you too will have a masterpiece at hand. Have fun with this sketch, and remember patience is key. I will be back shortly people. Peace, and God bless!

How to Draw The Last Supper

STEP 1.

The first thing you need to do before sketching out the figures standing there, is draw the horizontal line that makes up the very long rectangular table. Add the cloth that is dropping off the sides. When that is done you can then start sketching out all thirteen figures starting from left to right. Some of the men has exposed arms which you will need to draw too. Next and lastly, draw the thirteen heads and make sure they are all the same size.

STEP 2.

Now it's time to start enlarging each step so that you can clearly see all the definitions and details that you will need to draw. Once you have zoomed into the step, you can see that you will need to start sketching out the shoulders, faces, and beginning hairstyles for each man that you see here. All but one man has a beard, the disciple without the beard is John. Remember, use a sketching motion throughout the lesson because there is so much detail and definition with each figure. Jesus is in the middle, and like the rest, he just has the shoulders, face shape, and hair drawn out.

STEP 3.

Start from the left, and begin sketching out the five men's robes or cloaks that they are wearing. Add all of the creasing detailing as well as the arms, hands, and fill in the faces. Sketch in the eyes, nose, and mouths for almost every man in the picture. I didn't include the facial guidelines on for the faces because the features are all small in size. The cloths should look very loose and worn, and some of teh collars have brooches clamped on.

STEP 4.

You will now sketch out the arms, hands, and cloths for the rest of the men which includes Jesus, and the rest of his disciples. Use the same technique you used for the other man you drew, and when you are done add some detailing and definition like you see here. There are also a few plates on the table top that you can start drawing in as well.

STEP 5.

This is finally your last drawing step so be proud of yourself that you made it this far. You will now start sketching in detailing to the hair of the chosen men, and then define their clothes. too. Sketch out the exact shape of the table, and as you can see there is a table cloth that you need to sketch out before you start drawing the cups, plates, and food. Once the table is all set, you can begin sketching out the cups that are filled with wine, and the plates that are filled with bred and fish. Carefully start erasing all the guidelines and shapes that you drew in step one.

STEP 6.

When you are done, your sketch should come out looking like the one you see here. After it's all cleaned up, you can choose to color it in, or leave the drawing as a beautiful sketch. This is definitely a project that you can start a few days before Easter to give it to someone that is special to your for a present. When Jesus rose from the dead, it was a sacred day that will be celebrated for all time.

Members Login Here

DragoArt members upload artwork and drawing tutorials! They are also allowed to leave comments on tutorials, profiles, etc. Many more features, as well; it's way better than just being a boring guest!
Register Now!